Immigration Reform

02.01.13

Just 'Building the Damn Fence' Won't Fix Everything

Krauthammer stresses the need to build an immigration fence along America's southern border:

The current Senate proposal must be improved, either in the Senate or by the House. It’s not complicated. Build the damn fence. And give “probationary legal status” to the 11 million — not on the day the bill is signed but on the day the fence is completed. Have the president drive in the golden fence post at Promontory Point II and sign the amnesty right there. Great photo op.

Quick question for the eminent scribe: What good will a fence do when future waves of immigration are likely from countries in Africa and South Asia? Mexico and central America are the most recent sources of immigration to the United States, but they won't be the last.

Attempting to keep the government ahead of patterns of human migration strikes me as not the least bit conservative. It's folly, and while perhaps well-intentioned, I don't see why conservatives should place faith in fences and government.